- CYBORG VS. CARANO: “DESERVES TO BE MAIN EVENT”

Cris "Cyborg" Santos continued her current winning
streak on Saturday night by wrecking Japanese fighter Hitomi Akano in the third
round of their bout at Strikeforce on Showtime. While the win was dominant,
the questions for Santos after the fight all seem to focus on two things.

Weight cutting and Gina Carano.

The biggest problem that Cyborg faced before the scheduled
fight with Akano was making the agreed upon 145-pound weight limit. Originally
coming in seven pounds over weight, Santos eventually cut enough to make the
fight sanctioned under California State Athletic Commission rules, but still
the unreasonable amount of weight left a lot of people asking questions after
the fight was over.

Santos already had a clear advantage size wise over her much
smaller opponent, who was a 128-pound champion in Japan. But regardless of the
infraction, Cyborg says it was an isolated incident and will not happen again.

"This is the first and the last time," Santos said
after the fight about missing weight. "It’s a promise."

Immediately after the weight issue was put to bed, the
questions came in quickly about a possible match-up against women’s superstar
Gina Carano. Santos was fast to point out that fighting Carano would be a
test, but she didn’t need extra motivation to train harder for Akano.

"I train a lot for any opponent, and if Gina is on her
way, I would fight Gina with pleasure," Santos stated. "I would
prepare for Gina the same way that I would prepare for any opponent."

Strikeforce president and CEO Scott Coker said during the
post-fight press conference that negotiations are still under way to sign
Carano to a deal with the promotion.

In addition to that, Coker added that he hopes a fight
between Carano and Cyborg could take place in August, and be for the first ever
Strikeforce women’s title. Nothing was settled on the location of the
potential bout, and Coker was unsure if the fight could end up on Showtime or
CBS.

The one big thing that was settled about the fight between
Santos and Carano is the status the bout would hold on a Strikeforce card.

"That’s a fight that deserves to be main event,"
Coker said addressing the media in attendance.

Strikeforce will continue to work and close a deal with
Carano and the biggest fight in women’s MMA history can finally be put
together.